Duo carrying British hopes

Luke Donald or Lee Westwood will need an extra slice of good fortune if they are to end the 35-year British drought at the US Open today, reports Nick Pitt

IT IS 35 years and many million strokes in hope since that glorious occasion when Ton Jacklin won the 1970 US Open at Hazeltine by seven strokes. It still seems hard to believe that he did it so comprehensively, and equally hard to believe that no British player has managed to repeat the achievement since.

One day it must happen, but if it is to be this year, only two still stand a chance: Luke Donald and Lee Westwood.

From the outset, Donald was fancied to run among the leaders. His even temperament is ideally suited to the psychological demands of such a testing course, and he proved at the US Masters, where he finished third, that championship golf is his metier. Westwood, wholly recovered from two years in the doldrums, but not from a cold and sore throat, has shown himself just as unflappable, and he believes he has